


Another Gay Gallagher

by thereisnowyou



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Brotherly Bonding, Coming Out, Family, Family Fluff, Gay, M/M, Marriage
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:14:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 5,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28123674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thereisnowyou/pseuds/thereisnowyou
Summary: Carl starts his new job and in meeting his new coworker realizes somethings about himself he never thought of, thankfully he has great brothers and an even better brother in law to help him through it all.Just re-edited chapter 1 to make it more cohesive with my plans for the rest of the fic!
Relationships: Carl Gallagher/Original Male Character(s), Debbie Gallagher/Sandy Milkovich, Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich, Lip Gallagher/Tami Tamietti
Comments: 15
Kudos: 121





	1. Coworkers

It was an average day at the Gallagher house. Ian and Mickey were in their room, everyone was pretending that they couldn’t hear them. Debbie was at work and Liam was watching Franny. However, it was not an average day for one Gallagher, and it hadn’t been one in weeks. Carl was sitting in his room, it was his day off and he was spending it staring at the ceiling.   
He couldn’t make sense of the things in his head. He had just started his new job as a cop and he loved it and it was going great. That was until he met Leo. Leo was another new cop, he was a little older than Carl and was quiet and kind of shy. He and Carl had been put on patrol together a few weeks back and at first it was almost silent. 

Eventually Carl had decided to break the silence and ask the guy about his life.

“So uh, you from around here?”

“Uh no, I just moved here a few years ago”

“Why the fuck would you willingly move to the south side?”

“My mom and my sisters are here, I grew up a couple hours away with my dad but I decided to move in with my mom a few years back”

“How many sisters do you have?” Carl found himself surprised as to why he cared after asking, but figured it was better than silence.

“Uh three, one older and two younger; what about you? Are you from here?

“Yeah, born and raised, I live a few blocks away”

“Oh nice, any siblings?”

“yeah five, two older sisters, two older brothers and a younger brother”

“Oh wow, big family, must be fun”

“something like that”

Carl had no idea why he was talking about his family or cared about this guys but they talked for the next couple hours of their in the end super boring and uneventful shift. He told Leo about his dysfunctional family and how his siblings pretty much raised him and about Fiona leaving and all that shit, Monica dying, Ian going to jail, all the shit that they’d been through. And Leo told him all about his parent’s messy divorce and how his mom was kind of a mess, but he loved his sisters. How his dad was a piece of shit but that his stepmom was okay, and they had little kids that he loved dearly but he hated his dad.

They sat in the patrol car and just talked all about their lives and somewhere in their Carl found himself noticing Leo’s eyes and how blue they were and how blond his hair was, and how shy his smile was but how he seemed to completely open up when he laughed.

So now here he was sitting and staring at the ceiling, wondering if he was gay and not sure what to do. This was nothing Carl had ever felt before, it was like something in him had opened up and unleashed this whole new world of life and emotions. He was living in this world of so much color and joy everyday in the squad car but at the same time when he came home and had to deal with all of the feelings it was like his world had become black and white as he struggled with the feelings that gnawed at his gut.

From his bed he heard Ian get up to leave for work, he had a night shift. It was Mickey’s day off though so he knew he’d still be home. Not too long after he heard Mick get out of the shower and head downstairs he heard Liam take off with Franny to go to the park. 

He knew he was lucky; he had an older brother who was gay and I mean no one in the family had ever fucking cared. Now he was married to Mickey and I mean they all loved Mickey like one of their own long before the two had gotten married. So even though he loved Ian he decided to go to his other gay brother in this situation because he felt like Mickey probably could help him after all the shit he went through in learning to accept himself. 

Mickey was at the table, beer in hand and reading something off his phone. Carl grabbed himself a beer and sat down at the table a few seats from Mickey. Mickey glanced up and acknowledged him before going back to his phone.

“Hey uh Mickey”

Mickey immediately looked up at Carl and put his phone down, something in Carl’s tone made him know this was important, it was more serious than usual.

“What’s up kid”

“Can I… Can I ask you something, something kind of personal?”

“Of course, what’s going on?”

“How did you, when did you… how did you know you were gay?”

That was not exactly he question that Mickey had been expecting, he had never expected to be having this conversation with Carl but fuck it, the kid came to him for a reason.

“I guess I had always kinda known but that was a big no in my family. When I was 16 this fucking alien looking ginger kid broke into my room to confront me and we ended up fucking. It was a really long road to accepting that, for god the next like 2-3 years I tried to deny it and then I was like 20 and I couldn’t fucking do it anymore, all the hiding and lying to myself. Fucking eats at you and I lost so much in my life from it. But hey its 10 years later and now I’m fucking married to the alien looking redhead so I guess I can’t complain…” Mickey trailed off and smiled “But uh, why do you ask?”

Carl looked down and although this was not the Tuesday afternoon conversation Mickey expected to be having with Carl, he knew what was happening. He also knew after a few too many fights with Ian that what Carl needed was to go at his own pace, no matter how slow or fast that was.

“I- I just there’s this guy and fuck I..i don’t know”

Carl was looking down and he wouldn’t meet Mickey’s eyes. Mickey knew the feeling, how terrifying it was for him to admit that he liked men. It made him think of being seventeen and sitting there while Ian talked about the old men, the ones who would kiss him.

“Look kid, you like what you like and there’s no shame in that, any one gives you a problem I’ll fucking fuck them up. You don’t have to figure everything out, it’s okay to not know or to not be ready to know.”  
Carl was crying, silently, which Mickey knew and was never going to say anything about. He understood. 

“Thanks Mick”

“Anytime, and I mean that kid”

“Can you, can you not tell Ian? I love him but I’m not ready for him to know because then Lip will know and you know how it goes”

“Of course man, stays between us.”

Carl thanked Mickey and in that moment they both knew they would be having more conversations like this in the future. For now Carl settled on making plans with Leo that didn’t take place in the squad car and Mickey was left to think about Carl and about his own journey to being where he was in life.


	2. Remember

Mickey was sitting in bed in the room that he shared with Ian. He was still kind of in shock after the conversation they had. Carl had left not long after to go out with some friends or something and Mickey was left sitting there thinking about his own coming out and coming to terms with his sexuality.

It had taken him years, to come to terms with everything. It wasn’t like he didn’t know before Ian, hell he knew before he was even a teenager. Still in his house he knew that he needed to hide it and hide it well. When Ian had come into his life, a red fire that he couldn’t put out no matter how hard he tried, it had opened everything up for him. A life he never thought that he’d ever be able to have. 

Still, he remembered so well the days and weeks, hell even years that he spent trying to figure out who he was. He also had to reconcile who he was with his gayness. He found himself stressed by all the stereotypes and trying as hard as possible not to be any of them. Something he imagined might be a struggle for Carl too considering their shared southside background.  
**

Carl had decided to go for a walk after his conversation with Mickey. He had a lot on his mind. He couldn’t remember when he found out that his brother was gay. He remembered when no one wanted to explain to him what gay men were, because Ian was fucking Jimmy’s dad. He kind of got it though, he wouldn’t want to explain to an eleven year old why his fifteen year old brother and sister’s boyfriends sixty year old dad were fucking.

But then when he was like thirteen Mickey moved in, he slept in the bed with Ian and no one really cared. He remembers asking Ian about it, and Ian never really gave him a straight answer but now that he knows more, he figures Ian didn’t really have much of one himself. 

Still in all his memories of Ian and of Ian and Mickey the one thing he remembers the most is that not a single person cared. Mickey took care of Ian and he loved him so deeply and really that was all that mattered to anyone in the family. Not many barely twenty-year old’s would show up for someone like Mickey did when Ian got diagnosed.

The more Carl thought about it, no one really cared when Debbie started fucking girls either. Now she was with Sandy and honestly everyone really like Sandy, she balanced out the fact that Debs could be annoying as shit. 

So why was he so scared that any of them would care about him? he knew the answer, that his family wasn’t what he was afraid of. It was the rest of the southside. He was a former southside thug and now he was a fucking cop. None of that lined up with being gay. Hell, he wasn’t sure how Mickey did it but being a Milkovich probably made it so no one dared say shit to him.

Still, something in him knew that whatever he felt for Leo wasn’t going to just go away and like it or not he was going to have to deal with it. Even though he was terrified for what the future was going to hold he was excited at the thought of working with the blonde tomorrow and about the drinks they were getting at the Alibi after work.


	3. Patrol

The next morning carl was getting ready to leave for work. Ian had already left and so had Debbie and Liam. Sandy and Mickey were both at the kitchen table silently nursing coffees. He felt like the universe was trying to tell him something as he was going through a crisis to come down and find his sibling’s respective partners chilling at the kitchen table and no one gave two fucks.

Carl cursed the universe a little because he really didn’t have time for that shit this morning, he needed to get to work. When he got there, he went to the locker room and got his stuff ready for the day before meeting Leo at the squad car.

He looked as good as he always did, and Carl hated the way it made his heart feel and how his whole body felt warm and fuzzy while simultaneously stressed. Naturally it was a pretty quiet day, so they ended up parking on one of the side streets and just talking. Even though at first Leo had been far quieter than Carl he had grown comfortable and he spent a lot of their shifts trying to understand Carl’s life and family.

“So, you’re telling me that out of six kids that five of you have records and yet you’re a cop?”

“Hey, my record was juvenile, but yeah Fiona and Ian both have felonies, so does Ian’s husband Mickey. Debbie is a registered sex offender because she had sex with a seventeen year old when she was nineteen and Lip has a whole handful of misdemeanors and shit. Liam’s only eleven but I have a feeling he’ll be the only one without any charges.”

“Wait your brother’s husband? Your brother’s gay?”

“Yeah when he went to jail it was because he was manic and thought he was some fucking gay Jesus or something”

“Wait, Gay Jesus, that’s your brother Ian?”

“I kind of hate that you know about that, but yes that’s my brother Ian. He’s more stable now and married and no longer thinks that he is talking to God, thankfully.”

“You and your siblings are truly something out of a tv show.”

“You get used to it after a while honestly, I think it comes with having been the youngest till I was like eight.”

“See I grew up with all sisters and that is a whole different world of crazy.”

“Yeah, I have two and that’s enough. I’d rather Lip and Ian fist fight everyday than listen to Debbie shriek.”

“My older sister, Eliza, is a disaster, always has been always will be she’s just certifiably unhinged. The twins Kerrie and Cara are polar opposites, Cara is a demon child and Kerrie is so quiet but will like do anything to ruin’s Cara’s day.”

“Yeah, two is good enough for me. We had another sister around for a while but we all hated her and she is in jail now so that’s fun”

There was something so weird and comfortable about just sitting here and bitching abut his siblings with Leo. He honestly couldn’t remember the last time he felt so at ease talking to someone that wasn’t family. He had learned to keep his guard up, he never talked abut Ian’s gay Jesus stint and Debbie being on the registry with people. He just felt like for once he had someone to talk to.

Once their shift was finished they both changed and went to The Alibi. Kev was behind the bar and he greeted Carl with a head nod and he brought over two beers while they sat down at a booth, carl didn’t feel like sitting at the bar with Tommy and Kermit today.

“So you’ve told me about all the other Gallagher's but what about you?”

“Uh I don’t know, I was kind of a psycho as a kid and I ended up in Juvie for selling drugs but a stint in military school really helped straighten me out. What about you?”

“Only boy out of a combined seven kids between my parents and of course I turned out gay which my dad just loves. Somehow ended up a cop and now I’m here.”

Carl could feel the heat rising through his body, they had never talked about sexuality. Carl had vaguely mentioned a few exes from when he was younger but that was pretty much it but now Leo was blatantly telling him he was gay and he wasn’t exactly sure what to do next but with in seconds he had a bigger issue because the Alibi door opened and in came Ian and Mickey.


	4. The Guy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the love on this story! Let me know what y'all think!!

Carl knew when he came home that night there would be questions, Ian would be wondering when he got a friends and it would be sarcastic and really he was just giving him sheet because that’s what brothers do. But then he knew eventually Mick would get him alone and ask the real questions.

Leo had thankfully been pretty unphased when they showed up. That was until he realized that his brother was married to a Milkovich. He wasn’t sure if Leo was more afraid or shocked that Mickey was gay. He figured he’d be asked about it plenty the next day in the squad car.

When he got home Debs was in the kitchen talking endlessly and Sandy was sitting there just listening, Carl was pretty sure she either had endless patience or was really good at tuning his sister out. Either way he was just thankful he didn’t have to listen to it. 

He quickly made his escape upstairs and he could hear the shower running. He figured Ian and Mickey were in there since he was pretty sure that had taken every shower together since they’d both gotten out, so Carl was surprised to see that Mickey was in their room.at the same time though it wasn’t surprising because he figured at some point he’d have to talk to Mickey. He lightly knocked on the door frame before walking in.

“Hey.”

“Hey… so that the guy?”

“Yeah.”

“He’s cute, not as cute as Ian but he’s cute.”

Carl made a face, he could never date any one who looked anything like his siblings.

“Is he gay?”

“Found out today that he is yeah.”

“Okay, Ian’s gonna be done showering soon bud, we’ll talk later, okay?”

“Thanks Mick.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Once Ian was out of the shower he was quick to join Mickey in bed where they were both snuggled under the blanket in a matter of minutes. Ian was staring at the ceiling with Mickey’s head on his chest when he started talking.

“Carl’s friend today seemed nice.”

“Yeah I think it’s his partner that he drives around with everyday.”

“Good, I’m glad Carl’s making friends.”

There was silence as Mickey just hummed in agreement and Ian ran his fingers through Mickey’s dark hair.

“Do you think Carl knows that that guy is gay?”

“It’s Carl.” Mickey said deadpan, he wasn’t going to break his word to Carl and tell Ian about this guy and thankfully Carl was just dumb enough it was believable that he’d have no clue.

Mickey was still thinking about his coming out, every time he talked to Carl, he thought about his own experience more and more. He wasn’t one to be super sappy or emotional but it was Ian and he just wanted to know.

“When did you know you loved me?” Mickey could feel Ian underneath him be surprised at that question and he gently sat up to answer it, prompting Mickey to sit up right next to him, their hands quickly becoming intertwined.

“The minute Kash shot you, I knew then and there that I loved you. Why are you asking?”

“I dunno, was just thinking about it the other day.”

Ian leaned and kissed Mickey’s hair. “When did you know you loved me?” It was a question Ian had always wanted to ask, when in the ten years had Mickey started to love Ian back.

“When your goofy ass visited me in juvie.”

Ian turned to Mickey, he was surprised it had been so soon, he kissed Mickey hard and reached to turn off the light.


	5. I'd give it all

Carl really still just wasn’t sure what he wanted to do about Leo. Part of him just wanted to take the risk and ask him out and just go from there but then another part of him just wanted to make all of these feelings go away so he never had to deal with them.

He was working the afternoon shift so he figured maybe if he was lucky Ian was out and he could talk to Mickey alone for a few minutes. And just as he left his room, he heard Ian leaving. Now he just had to hope Debbie wasn’t around because he did not want to deal with her finding anything out. He walked to the bathroom and the house was pretty quiet which meant that Debbie definitely wasn’t home and Liam was never home so it was probably just him and Mickey he figured. Which was further confirmed when he came down to see Mickey making a pot of coffee.

“You want some?” Mickey asked, he knew Carl definitely needed it.

“Yes please.”

They sat down at the table, and for a few seconds it was a comfortable silence, but they both knew what was coming next.

“Mick, I don’t know what to do.”

“You like him right?”

“Well yeah.”

“and he’s gay.”

“Well yeah he told me yesterday.”

“Carl that wasn’t a question, Ian literally asked me yesterday if you realized you’re new friend was gay.”

“Fuck me.”

“Nope I only have eyes for your brother sorry.”

Carl laughed and flipped Mickey off.

“Look kid I’m gonna be honest with you, I wasted so much of my life hiding. I wasted so much of my time with Ian those first couple years hiding and even though we have our fucking happy ending, or some shit, but I regret every day I spent hiding how much I loved him and who I was. I know it’s scary as shit, but I can promise you no one here is gonna care the only one who might say anything is Debbie cause she’s annoying and it won’t even be unsupportive it’ll just be annoying.”

Carl laughed because he knew Mickey was right, “I’m not worried about the family. Hell at this point half of us are fucking gay. I’m worried about my street cred.”

“No offense Carl but you went from white boy Carl who was a drug dealer to a fucking cop, I don’t know if you have anymore street cred.”

Carl rolled his eyes, “still you know what I mean.”

“Dude everyone around here knows I’m fucking gay and the only people who have ever given me an issue for it is my own fucking family because their incest brains can’t fucking comprehend it.”

Carl shook his head and laughed a little but both he and Mickey knew that Mickey was right. No one would care so why did Carl care so much?

“Look kid I know this isn’t an easy thing. If you told me ten years ago, I’d be fucking married, first off, I’d have been shocked that I’m still alive never mind fucking married. But if you had told me I would be married to fucking Ian Gallagher I would’ve beat your ass. It’s not easy to accept that who you are might be different than what you always thought but I’d give up everything in my life just to be with Ian for a minute.”

“I mean you did give your self up just to be in prison with him.”

“Exactly and I’d do it again in a heart beat.”

Carl sat there for a few minutes thinking about what Mickey had said. He had had girl friends, most of them were crazy in some way or another but he never really had that great love Ian and Mickey had but he couldn’t imagine passing that up just because he was scared of what someone else might think. In that moment carl jumped up from the table and yelled a thank you to Mickey before running out the front door.


	6. you we're right

Carl wasn’t exactly sure what he was doing. He had learned where Leo lived the day before when they walked back from The Alibi. It was only four blocks away, but he wasn’t exactly sure what he was going to do when he got there. Still there he was running up the stairs and knocking on the door, hoping Leo answered.

Carl was standing at this boys door, sweaty and out of breath. Leo closed the door behind him and stood facing Carl.

“Carl, is everything okay?”

Carl Gallagher was never much of a thinker but for him the next thing he did was the biggest no brainer of his life. He reached forward and crashed his lips into Leo’s and just hoped for the best.

Thankfully, Leo had kissed him back and when he finally pulled back, he looked at Carl, the surprise clear on his face. “Well, I have to say I wasn’t expecting that, but I’m not upset.”

Carl could feel that his face was red hot. 

“Thankfully we have an entire shift to talk about it though.”

Fuck Carl thought to himself, he forgot he has work in an hour, he probably should’ve saved that for after work.

Leo laughed and Carl melted, “Hey don’t look so panicked, I’m not angry or upset. But we really should get to work. 

As he was settling in for his shift Carl took out his phone and shot off a text to Mickey.

C: You were right  
M: I know

**  
Mickey laughed a little to himself as he answered Carl. Ian looked at him, “What’s so funny?”

“Just the way life works out sometimes.”

Ian smiled and kissed Mickey because his husband was truly a dork. They were both just lying in bed cuddling and playing games on their phone when the family group chat lit up with a message from Carl.

C: family dinner tonight, need everyone there.


	7. Coming Out

Ian, Mickey, and Lip were all in the kitchen waiting for everyone else to come home. Ian went into the kitchen and pulled out beers for himself and Mickey. From the table Lip spoke up, “So how much you wanna bet Carl finally knocked some neighborhood skank up?

“Oh, my money is on one he already knocked up showed up with a baby. What do you think Mick?”

“I think I don’t care.”

Ian rolled his eyes at his husband and how he pretended not to care about the Gallagher craziness when they both knew he’d do just about anything for any of them.

Just then Debbie and Sandy came in, “What are we betting on?”

“Did Carl get a girl pregnant recently or did one show up with a baby?” Lip laughed as they came and sat down at the table with them, Franny following close behind. 

“Ooo tough choices, but my money is on recently, don’t think a girl would come back to Carl.”

Lip and Ian both hummed in agreement and Mickey just stared down at his phone, knowing damn well how wrong all of these Gallagher's were. He was almost looking forward to seeing they’re reactions because for once this loud ass family might be speechless.

Eventually Liam came home and placed his money on a baby that was already born and so did Tami when she arrived. So bets had been placed and now the Gallagher’s just sat waiting. It wasn’t long before Carl was coming home with a couple pizza’s and he put them down and the entire Gallagher clan instantly started in on their regular screaming and fighting and Debbie bitching about her day and they all just went right into it.

It was a few minutes before Lip decided to bring it up.

“So uh Carl not that I don’t love free pizza and kind of like you assholes but what’s going on that you needed all of us here?”

Carl looked at his siblings like a deer in headlights and for once the Gallagher house was silent, he quickly scanned the room, Mickey making direct and encouraging eye contact as he did.

“I uh have something I need to tell you guys.”

“You got someone pregnant?”

“Someone showed up with your baby you didn’t know you had?”

Carl rolled his eyes at his siblings, “Will you guys shut up it’s none of those things.”

Everyone just looked at each other confused and sad because that meant no one had won the bet. Carl shook his head, what had he really expected from them honestly, if it was anyone else he’d be doing the same with them.

“I… I’m gay.”

Mickey was wrong about the Gallagher’s ever being stunned silent because even though there was about three seconds of vaguely confused silence it only last that long before Debs looked at Carl and said, “Wait what?”

Carl just shrugged, “I’m gay, like I like men?”

Debbie started to sputter out some response, but Sandy put a hand on her shoulder and told her to maybe just be quiet for once.

Lip looked at girl seriously for just a second before speaking, “You know we don’t care right? I mean we are at this table with our brother’s husband and sister’s girl friend but like you know that right?”

“I mean yeah I kinda got the gay is okay message when Mickey was sleeping in Ian’s bed when I was like twelve.”

Mickey and Ian both blushed and Mickey flipped Carl off, a smile on his face.

“And,” Ian started, “Anyone fucks with you, we’ll take care of it.”

“Ian, I’m nineteen and a cop.”

“Yeah, and you’re still our little brother.”

Carl rolled his eyes at his brothers.

“And if you need someone really taken care of well, Sandy and I are Milkoviches at the end of the day.”

Carl just laughed taking a bite of his pizza. His family was really a bunch of crazy assholes but god was he so thankful for them.


	8. You Knew

Not long after Carl left because he had picked up a night shift at work. Leaving the remaining for Gallagher's and their partners to talk about the nights events.

“So that was not what I was expecting,” Lip said with a laugh, his siblings all making noises of agreement.

“Looks like we’re split down the middle now, wonder what Frank and Monica did to make that happen.” Debbie said, “So Liam, are you gonna come to the gay side and make it so we outnumber the others?”

“Debbie I’m eleven.”

Ian rolled his eyes at his little sister, “Hey atleast he felt comfortable enough telling us, as the first gay one I can tell you it was significantly more nerve wracking and anxiety inducing. Hell I didn’t even want you and Carl to know or for it to get out and you guys to get beat up for me being gay.”

“Yeah you Gallagher's are definitely doing something right,” Sandy spoke up, “I don’t know about you Mick but I knew I was gay at like ten and also knew I couldn’t do anything about it or I’d be killed.”

Mickey nodded, “Yeah you Gallagher's are pretty fucking crazy but at the end of the day you love each other far more than most families on the south side.”

They all nodded in agreement at that, they might fight like hell but they’d all lay down their lives for each other.

Eventually Lip went home and the others went up to their respective bedrooms. Ian and mickey both showered before pulling their door closed. As soon as it was closed Ian launched into talking about Carl.

“I’m honestly surprised he’s gay, why didn’t he come to me about it?”

“Ian you kinda had a pretty easy road to self discovery, it’s not like that for everyone.”

Ian pouted at Mickey, “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Look man, I think Kash and that other old guy deserved jail for how they took advantage of you, and I know what happened with Lip and Karen but as far as being gay on the south side goes it was pretty easy for you. When you’re someone like me or Carl who have reputations to uphold it can be a completely different story.”

Ian looked at Mickey, lips slightly parted, just thinking.

“You knew.”

Mickey knew he couldn’t lie to Ian and he honestly knew there was no use to trying to. 

“Yeah.. I did.”

“For how long?”

“Ah I don’t know maybe a week or two.”

“And you didn’t tell me?”

“Hey when you were fifteen going through this would you have wanted everyone to be talking about it before you even knew exactly what you felt?”

Ian just looked at Mickey and Immediately softened, walking across the room to sit next to his husband on the bed, gently taking his hand and kissing his temple.

“I love you so much.”

“I love you too Gallagher but what’s the sudden attitude change?”

“You love me and take care of me, but not just me, you’ve really taken on a role of protector for my siblings and I just love you more than words.”


End file.
